Last Man She'd Love

by Summerita Rhayne

  ‘What can we do?’ Tasha said in a hushed voice. ‘If Lyna had given me a hint, things weren’t so good between her and Guy, I could’ve advised her –’

  ‘Advice! What use is it for her? She needs support. And I don’t expect it of you, Tasha.’ Her mother continued, her voice trembled a little probably because she’d never scolded even Lyna in her life. ‘It’s Matthew who should be ashamed. Yes, you, Matthew. You’ve never been a good husband, but you also never made an effort to be a father, have you?’

  ‘Ridiculous! I brought a ring for her,’ Matthew blustered.

  Her mother looked a little pale, but said with composure. ‘A good father would demand an explanation from someone who behaved like this rich young man has.’

  Matthew hovered, unable to decide while Tasha glared. The matters hung at a standstill, until Tasha gave in and said, ‘Okay, we’ll stay till morning and wait for Guy to come back. Come on, Matthew there are many rooms. We’ll fit in somehow.’

  ‘Of course we can’t stay here,’ Matthew objected. ‘We’d better find a hotel nearby.’

  ‘There is no hotel nearby,’ Tasha shot back.

  They went away, still arguing. Lyna hugged her mother. ‘You’re a deep one. I had no idea you could dish it to him like that!’

  ‘It’s my fault. I have always regarded him like a god. That was what I was taught by my family. But he made me see… Well, I wish it didn’t have to end like this for you, Lyna. He was really so good to me. Kept such good care of me when you were gone –’

  Lyna looked puzzled and then it clicked. ‘Guy?’ she whispered.

  ‘He changed my whole view. Said Tasha put me down because she was jealous of me. At first, I thought he was joking, but he convinced me, how I don’t know. I was down in dumps, you know. I couldn’t believe all he told me. But he made me laugh and said such outrageous things...That Tasha had botulinum injected around fifty times just to make her skin not touch her toes! And she… oh I can’t tell you. He said I looked like what I was and that’s why he liked to sit with me and then he made me eat two helpings of ice cream. Said ridiculous things like real women ate what they liked and the way I exercised couldn’t be found in any gym routine and what not... It’s stupid, but at my age I allowed myself to be charmed by him. He’s so so...’

  ‘Aren’t all cheats charmers, Mom?’

  ‘Only for their gain. He was being kind or so I thought. Lyna, I’m sorry. Looks like you’re destined to make the same mistake I made. Your... Mrs. Singh told me the girl he went out with was one he had been engaged to, some years back. Seemed he broke the engagement then too. Though not with so much of public insult as now... But, dear, you aren’t married. You’re not even engaged, thank heaven. Put this behind you. Let’s leave now. I was wrong to think of being tired now, when it’s so hard for you to stay here.’

  ‘Why should it be hard, Mom?’ she said with a trace of irritation. ‘He left, I didn’t. Why should I be ashamed of facing all the people here?’ She mollified a bit as her mother continued to look concerned. ‘Don’t worry, mom. We’ll leave first thing in the morning. Go and rest now. You want to be in your best looks. You always look great in the morning.’

  She smiled wryly. ‘Funny, you saying that. That’s what Guy said. He said Tasha probably takes two hours just to get out of the bedroom because who’d want to look at the ghastly image she presents without make up. I should shut up about him. It’s so sad... Are you sure you don’t want tea?’ She glanced again at the tea things in the trolley, making a gesture as though to pour for Lyna.

  ‘Quite sure. I can’t sleep if I take it at night.’

  Her mother left eventually and she realized the room was deserted. She got up and made her way out, passing through the hall and looking through the door into the sitting room, caught sight of Kalyani on the sofa. Intending to say goodbye because she’d probably not see her in the morning, she went in, then paused as she saw Hina seated opposite her in the square sitting area.

  ‘Oh come in, Lyna.’ Kalyani indicated the seat beside her.

  ‘Yes, dear do take a seat.’ Surely Hina had never spoken to her with so much affection before. She spoke to her daughter, ‘Kalyani, bring her some ginger tea.’

  Kalyani said with some anger, ‘Oh Mummy, what’s the use of appearing so concerned now? You know very well, you shouldn’t have invited Sara. Ten to one it’s all her doing.’

  Hina paled. She turned to Lyna. ‘I never intended you to get hurt. I’m sure he will do a turn around. You’ll be happy at Llwellpore. You have a growing business there. This thing with Sara, surely it can’t be right.’

  Her voice held a strangely beseeching note. She took Lyna’s hands in hers, her fingers rather cold. Lyna’s hand was shut into a fist and with a shock, she realized the ring was still in it. She opened it and the other women caught sight of it too.

  It lay in her palm. Winking in the light. A large central sapphire blinking and catching the light.

  ‘I told him to buy diamonds,’ Kalyani said irrelevantly. ‘I suppose he thought this would match your eyes.’ She stopped. A silence ran around the room.

  Lyna got up. A question hung in the air. Something slithered in their consciousness. She felt her heart jerk in her chest and start to beat with an uneven rhythm.

  ‘I have to go,’ she said and got up.

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

  She made her way to her room on unsteady feet. Was she being wrong to place so much importance on a ring? He could have bought it at random.

  She remembered their first night together and how she’d felt thankful she loved him. She remembered thinking it couldn’t be reversed. Well, it had. Jashith Gayatri Pratap Singh, how could you? These had been her thoughts since he’d walked out of the banquet hall.

  Her mind swam. Maybe he wanted to marry a girl of similar social standing. Or maybe he loved her. Ridiculous thoughts, because he’d effectively walked out of his grandfather’s approval so how could the status of the estate matter? Judging by Dadu’s words, it went without saying that after recreating another scandal three years later, he had distanced himself. And love? She searched for the signs that might tell her in retrospect if he felt anything for this girl he never mentioned.

  What about her, Lyna? Had it been worth walking away from her? He’d put her in public humiliation. Could any girl be expected to forgive that?

  Did he expect it?

  No. It hadn’t been on the cards.

  Tired, she sank down on the bed. Her thoughts continued in an incessant circle.

  What about yesterday? He’d been a tender lover yet the moment she asked if they had a relationship, she’d drawn a blank.

  So had Sara rekindled his interest in her in such a drastic way that he’d walked out of her life, losing not just what they shared but also in all probability his chief creative director?

  She got up suddenly, remembering yesterday. Brijesh! Guy had heard him make his offer.

  So what? What had they shared exactly? Anything he would term the lightest flirting surely. He used to meet his dates in sophisticated surroundings. That she’d heard.

  Grapevine wouldn’t lie. Like Matthew Perry, like Harish, he was a playboy. Men...it wasn’t in their nature to be constant. She’d been swept away...too much, hence proved that women were vulnerable, easily taken in by the breed of charmers to which he belonged.

  She paced. Could her reasoning be right? It made no sense.

  She’d been taken in before. Who was to say she wouldn’t be wrong another time. She’d stayed clear of flings. One thing led to another so easily. With Guy, she hadn’t even stopped to think.

  She couldn’t think now. She put her hands at her temples. Thoughts chased each other so rapidly that she wished she didn’t have to think. She changed her clothes, taking off the jewelry, pulling out the pins from her hair, with half a mind wondering and surmising.

  Lying down was easy. Sleep impossible. Gritty eyes hurt. Her head pounded. Sleep flitted in and out o
f her consciousness.

  A knock roused her. It came again. Wondering if she was dreaming, she got up. ‘Who is it?’ she called.

  There was a pause. Just as she was about to lie down, a voice spoke, sounding low and thick. ‘Vinay.’

  ‘Vinay?’ She went hurriedly to the door and opened it. She could see him, an ill-defined form with what looked like a rucksack. A thought went through her mind that he was going on some illegal midnight rally.

  ‘Sorry to disturb you, Lyna. I just came to say good bye. I’m running away from home.’

  ‘What? But why...’

  He made a frustrated gesture. ‘Tomorrow is my last day here. The plane is booked. Our accountant handed me the tickets.’ He raised a sleeve to his forehead. She saw his hand shake as he wiped it. Despite his attempt, his forehead, she saw in the dim light of the corridor, glistened with sweat.

  ‘Come inside.’

  ‘No...I can’t. I have to go now.’

  Lyna caught hold of his sleeve. ‘How? Where are you going?’

  ‘There’s a rally I might join before heading out…’

  ‘Heading out where?’

  ‘I don’t know. I’ll hang around with the crowd. Go for racing maybe.’

  A shiver ran down her spine. Her guess had been right. She felt cold, remembering the news she’d heard of risky drives and accidents occurring on hilly roads due to reckless rallies in which juvenile kids took part. She knew he drove, but he was still a kid, not a trained racer. That day, she’d agreed in a light hearted way. Now, at night, she couldn’t let him go.

  But any objection would immediately draw a rebellious response she knew.

  Guy should have been here. He’d know what to do.

  ‘I’ll come with you too,’ she said on impulse.

  ‘You?’

  ‘Well, I missed the one yesterday, didn’t I?’ Had it been the day before?

  ‘I missed that one too,’ he said. ‘Mummy had me go get stuff for the party…sorry about Guy dumping you like that…hell, I’m not sure I should have said it like that.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ Lyna said. ‘Will you wait while I change? I’d like to forget about this evening and this rally seems like just the thing.’

  He glanced at his watch. ‘Can you be ready in ten minutes?’

  ‘Five,’ she said and went inside.

  It took her seven, as Vinay let her know. She apologized appropriately and reminded him she was still three minutes early for his time. She saw that he had another larger bag that he lifted by the straps. He hadn’t joked about running away. ‘What about Priti?’ she asked as they came to the stairs.

  His mouth twisted. ‘Priti is my forgotten past.’

  To someone more cynical, it might sound rhetoric, but Lyna’s tender heart felt a pang.

  They made their way downstairs and were tiptoeing along the hall when a cough sounded. As they listened, it became clear it wasn’t a cough but a sob.

  ‘What now?’ Vinay groaned.

  A hiccup sounded again and a stocky form came out into the hall.

  ‘Brijesh?’

  ‘Lyna?’

  Vinay made an impatient sound and Lyna made a gesture for patience. ‘What are you doing up at this hour?’ He just looked disgruntled and didn’t say anything, not even asking her the same question. She looked into the morning room, from which he had emerged and saw the bent form of Meghna, head on her folded arms, her shoulders shaking.

  ‘You made her cry?’

  ‘I didn’t. I just told her full and final I couldn’t marry her. Lyna, if I could, I would, but I can’t.’ He spread his hands. ‘My father would disinherit me and I don’t have a penny he hasn’t control over. I won’t be able to take care of the baby even.’

  ‘Lyna, are you coming?’ Vinay called to her.

  ‘Shh-sh, not so loud!’ She said to Brijesh, ‘We can’t talk here. We’re going to a rally. You both had better come with us!’ She went inside and roused Meghna. ‘Hey, it will be okay, now there there…’

  It took a while for Meghna to calm down and Brijesh to understand that he had to come with them and then the foursome set off down the drive.

  Vinay had conveniently left his bike at the end of the drive. Brijesh went off to wake the security man to get his car. Finally, they were on the road, the sedan following the bike. Lyna had to tell Vinay to slow down several times and he answered testily, ‘At this rate, I’ll get there at dawn!’

  After about ten kilometers, the road narrowed down to a trail. Brijesh honked several times to protest against the rough road, but was ignored. Then a din grew louder the nearer they got and they were there.

  Several brightly lit tents, a few banners and a floodlight indicated these guys were serious. As she got down from Vinay’s bike, she realized it was the flat top of a hill and quite cut off from the rest of the region apart from the winding trail which had brought them up. A few farmers stood nearby, grinning at the unaccustomed excitement. Motors revved. A rider did a tight circle and roared up, doing a wheel stunt. A few had turbo bikes and seemed they could do anything including sliding off the slope of the hill then back up again via a rough crevices lined path and riding on rear wheel to celebrate their daring. Lyna winced but clapped heartily, Vinay whooped and looked flushed.

  Brijesh stepped forward determinedly. ‘Hey, show me where to rent a bike, I’m also coming along with you.’

  All three turned to look at him, as the dust behind them settled in the gloom.

  ‘Are you mad?’ Lyna said bluntly. ‘This is no arena for somebody not familiar with the terrain.’

  ‘I don’t care, Lyna. I’m sick of everything anyway. Father will see me injured or worse, then he’ll be happy.’

  ‘Just a minute, Vinay!’ Lyna drew Brijesh away from the cheering crowd who had witnessed another exploit. ‘Don’t you know better than to say such things in front of the kid? Why don’t you go and talk to your father, Brijesh?’

  ‘Talk? He talks at you, not to you.’ He looked down at the ground. ‘He told me to improve the numbers and I couldn’t and now the deadline he gave me is up.’

  ‘Go, stand up to him.’ Lyna urged.

  ‘He’s right, it’s no use talking to fathers and mothers,’ Vinay said, from behind them, having heard every word. ‘Bro, I agree. It’s the best idea. Let him see how he damaged and ruined your life because of his rigidity. Don’t worry, we have an ambulance if you are seriously injured.’

  ‘You’d really do that?’ Meghna’s voice was full of admiration for the would-be daredevil.

  Had they all gone mad? Lyna cast an eye heavenward. Her fault for bringing them in the middle of the night. The lack of sleep had got to them.

  ‘Listen,’ she said, with all the command she could muster. ‘Brijesh, take Meghna and just get married. Go. This is your life. Whether your father comes around or not, you don’t need to punish yourself for his stubbornness! It wouldn’t be the right thing to do. You can worry about the consequences later. You’re trained as a businessman. Surely you can think of something you can do. And there must be relatives, friends, people who can support you while you think how you can settle down. Or you can show your father that you learnt from your mistakes.’ She ran out of arguments and looked at him expectantly.

  Brijesh stood, chewing his lip.

  ‘You want to marry her, don’t you? Go then. Just go and do something.’

  He looked at Meghna. ‘Would you still want to marry me if I am not CEO?’

  Meghna paled or so it seemed. Having lived at the edge of scarcity all her life, it was a mean prospect. She couldn’t see anything romantic in it, because she knew what economy was. She hadn’t gotten pregnant to trap Brijesh, but marrying him for the child was an agreeable idea. Now confronted with a dilemma, she sought to examine her feelings.

  ‘Okay,’ she said at last. ‘You haven’t said you’ll ditch me and you never asked me for proof, though I insisted. I do have it with me.’ She patted her purse. ‘I can show it to y
ou. I got all the tests done and everything. If you didn’t dump me, I guess I have to stick by you too.’

  ‘Nobody ever agreed to marry me without my money.’ Brijesh’s incredulity made Lyna remember her own engagement with him.

  ‘Including me,’ she said ruefully.

  Vinay lost interest now that the drama was over and went away, being called back by Lyna to bid Brijesh and Meghna good bye and show them the way down where they could safely hit the road back to Llwellpore. Vinay came back but was obliged to kick his heels while a lot of good byes were exchanged, half formulated plans vetoed, including one to lie-message Brijesh’s father about his bike rally adventure and at last they waved the couple off. Privately, Lyna felt sure his father would relent. Brijesh was his only son after all.

  For all his impatience to join in the rally, the initial riders of which were getting ready with their bikes to be flagged off, Vinay stood with her looking at the fading taillights of Brijesh’s car rounding the curve below them on the hillside. The discussion had caught his fancy and he stood gazing too, making Lyna feel maybe he identified with the star-crossed lovers, though Brijesh and Meghna weren’t exactly that. He wandered a little way and stood, shoulders hunched, scuffing at a patch of grass.

  ‘Thinking of Priti?’ It was on the tip of her tongue to ask, but she didn’t.

  Poor chap. He had to have a break. ‘Did you tell her anything about this?’ This time she couldn’t stay silent.

  He shook his head, his mouth twisted. ‘I feel like that guy. Why do parents say they care for you then proceed to act like they hate you, Lyna?’

  There was no answer to that. Lyna sighed and said, ‘Because they don’t know the right way to love?’

  ‘There’s something in that,’ he agreed with a dry tone so reminiscent of Guy that Lyna felt her heart would stop.

  ‘The right way to love. How precious to find the secret to loving the right way… Can anyone do that?’

  ‘I don’t know. All I think one can do is love enough and hope it will be right.’

  She sighed and shook it off.

  ‘Should we go for the rally then?’